State Religion Rejected
The Constitution Drafting Assembly of Thailand voted overwhelmingly (66-9)
against raising the status of Buddhism to “state religion” on 29 June, based on principles of freedom and equality. “Democracy does not force people to have or follow the same culture and that people are free to choose their beliefs equally” as Pasong Soonsiri, head of the Drafting Committee, says. I want to congratulate him and other members of the committee for successfully keeping religions out of state affairs, thus keeping the country away from dictatorship of one religion over the others. The protesting monks should go back to their temple to meditate and continue a further study of Buddha’s teaching. They should also learn to take into consideration that there are many people in the country who are non-believers, who want to think for themselves. They want to have an equal right as citizens of a country that allows them to remain free from intimidations and brainwashing of any religious teacher in a country that respects equal human rights of all citizens from all cultures.
Conflict Management
Expressing differences of opinion is part and parcel of a “democratic form of governance” It is interesting for me to watch what is going on in Thailand from New York, where we have free access of information technology and Internet. I watch international news in CNN, BBC World Services, ASTV (Asia Satellite Television), PTV (People’s Television) broadcasted from Bangkok. Every day, I read the Thai and English language news on line from http://www/matichon.co.th, http://www.manager.co.th, http://www.nationmultimedia.com, and watch videos from http://www.youtube.com (which I cannot do from Bangkok). I am quite concern about the situation in the country right now, where people are very much divided based on conflict of interests, economically and politically. Suthichai Yoon, editor of the Nation newspapers said that Thailand is in danger of falling deeper into the trappings of a “failed state” unless we get out of confrontation and obsession with the “Thaksin syndrome”. I agree with him that we should take Thaksin and generals out of political equation and bring us on the road to normalcy and democracy. Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister who in 2004 chaired the United Nations High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, also warned of the danger of Thailand becoming a “failed state”, ungovernable, unless we deal seriously with the issues that divide the people in the country. The present interim government, and the justice system have successfully brought back the “rule of law” to the country by dealing with the large-scale corruptions, allowed to occured by the Thaksin’s government. Now we need to focus on conflict-management and training which are needed to prevent violence and street fighting that could happen between now and the upcoming election campaign before the end of this year.
Filed under Thailand | Comment (0)Wafa Sultan Speaks Out on Islam
It is interesting and rare to have a woman speaking out on one of the male-established religion. I find her interview in Al Jazeera very clear and to-the-point in analyzing the impact of a religion on society as a whole.
Filed under World Affairs | Comment (0)Polygamy
Is sexual arrangement, plural marriage (Polygamy), a revelation from God as claimed by some Mormon and Muslim fundamentalists?
I don’t think so.
I agree with John Llewellne, a retired Salt Lake City policeman (who once practices polygamy but now campaigns against it) that the idea comes more from a Mormon’ leader, Joseph Smith’s Y (male) chromosome than from God’s revelation. This kind of sexual arrangement subjugates women by men for sexual, reproductive and housework purposes. John Stuart Mill wrote in 1861 in England that a marriage relationship, which the men have full authority and the women submit and obey, is “the subjugation of women”. He declared that such a relationship is against women’s right.
Now 146 years later, we are still having to argue on this issue in many parts of the world where the male attitude have not changed much, especially among the Muslim and Mormon polygamists who are raising again the issue of legal acceptance of this kind of marriage. Discrimination against women, denying or limiting as it does their equality of rights with men, is fundamentally unjust and constitutes an offence against human dignity. This is stated in the Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 coming into force in 1981. 185 countries, more than 90 per cent of the UN members, have ratified this convention which set framework at national level to abolish existing laws, customs, regulations and practices which are discriminatory against women and to establish adequate legal protection for equal rights of men and women. Polygamists have a right to their beliefs but they don’t have the right to pursue a lifestyle based on the idea of the inferiority of women and against women’s human rights.
Safeguarding Ocean Environment
On June 8 of every year we celebrate the “World Ocean Day”. This special celebration was created in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to focus on our personal connection to the sea and on our awareness of the fact that the oceans occupy 70% of the earth’s surface and constitute over 90% of the volume of the biosphere. This year’s focus is on polar- ecosystem and other effects of climate change. Rising carbon dioxide emission are making our ocean more acidic, scientists report. They inform us that the Southern Ocean around Antarctica is loaded with carbon dioxide it can barley absorbed any more. They also say that more of the gas rise onto the earth’s atmosphere and warm-up the planet. This has brought great disaster to marine life. Another area of focus is on marine genetic resource that has great potential value. In exploring them, we must consider the environmental and biological impact. This marine genetic resource is the new area of great interest to international communities. Over 2000 scientists from 80 countries are now researching the world’s oceans and conducting census of marine life . I appreciate the results of their explorations. I make good use of the new knowledge of the oceans from their findings, and the under-water photographs of marine life that they take in my computer artwork to support safeguarding the environment. For friends who are interested in making use of this wealth of information, digital images and photographs, you can go on-line at the website of the UN Atlas of Oceans that currently contains more than 4000 entries and maintains by a group of experts and United Nations volunteers. Since fish and other beautiful marine creatures are the subject of my paintings, I am concern when reading in the World Ocean Newsletter of new white syndrome coral disease causing by the warming of ocean temperatures in the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the declining numbers of sharks due to over-fishing and lack of people’s understanding about the connection between keeping the ocean environment favorable to life- replenishing, conservation, fishing and shark fining, The people of China and of other East and South-east Asian countries, in particular, must be made aware of these linkages. We must urge the people around the world via communication media to stop supporting the cruel method of shark fishing and shark-fin food industry by for example, not eating the food produced from shark fins. The future of the oceans depends on all our combined small and big efforts to keep it healthy for all life on this earth.
Filed under Environment, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Artwork on Climate Change
Congratulation to Charlette Sullivan, an eleven-year old student of the United Kindom, for winning the first prize in the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Children’s Painting Competition for her painting, rendering of the world as umbrella turned inside out by powerful storm. I also want to commend the organizers for managing to get participation of 14,000 children from 104 countries in this worthwhile activities which inspired the whole world to put more effort in solving the problem of global warming.
Filed under Art, Environment | Comment (0)